Ripples
by Eduard Kassel
Summary: A single mistake leaves Will lost and alone. Unsure even of the reality around her she finds herself caught in a life not her own. Amidst doubts, and plots both benign and malevolent of others Will finds herself thrust into roles unexpected, with allies and foes redefined. How far can the ripples of a life that wasn't reach in a conflict where gray swallows black and white? AU
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: _I do not own WITCH. This story was inspired by the seemingly abandoned fic _"Books of Forgotten Memory" _by_ Essence of Soup.

_Betaed by:_ Zim'smostloyalservant & Chaotic9

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Ripples

**Chapter One**

The Prince of Meridian had seen better days. While he took a great deal of pride in once more slipping from the clutches of his captors, the fact was that he now had to sneak through the palace he had once ruled from like a common thief.

Well, theft was his goal, but he would never class himself as a "common" anything.

"Third time will be the charm," he told himself as he stalked the rows of the royal library. His escape had been quiet and hardly a prelude of returning to power. What remained of his forces were still captive, as was the illusion of his continued captivity. He would need to be prepared for war by the time his foes learned that he was on the loose again.

"My sweet sister, so easily distracted, and with her on the other side of Meridian, I can retrieve you," the white-haired prince smirked. Stopping, he reached out and pulled a thick and large tome with unmarked brown leather binding from the shelf.

"Elyon and the rebels have been thorough destroying or sealing away the dark magics I spent so many years gathering. But they would never look for a magic book hidden in plain sight," the fallen tyrant smirked. In his hands the book changed, the glamour about it burning away like paper held to a forge's flame.

The size of the book was unchanged, but little else remained the same. The book's binding was black, a sheen catching in the light, a crystalline catch latching the book shut. Runes had been imbedded in the binding, shaped from gold, silver, iron, granite, and even what he believed was some kind of wood. Despite his vast knowledge, he could only read a few of these runes, and those made little sense.

"The Book of Fate, a relic so ancient some say it was created before Kandrakar. On its pages, everything that has ever been or will be recorded, but such knowledge is guarded by spells so powerful even I set it aside as a task for another day.

"But some say knowledge is not its true power. He who can open the book can see his own fate, and change it," Phobos said, stroking the book's binding like it was a beloved pet.

"Really, Princey? Now you're doing your own narration?" a girl's voice called. Phobos sucked in a breath, raising a hand as he held the book close with the other.

"Well, it must be lonely in that cell," another voice added.

"Like anyone would want to talk to him, beside himself," the first voice called again.

"Nah, he's just crazy," another voice put in.

"Guardians," Phobos spat.

The five Guardians emerged, flying over the shelves to close off both of the escaped prisoner's escape routes.

"You really thought you could fool us that easily?" Taranee asked, sounding a bit insulted.

"We've had you since you got into the castle. We figured that ogre being released was your doing to draw Elyon away," Cornelia added, smirking.

"We figured you must have some trick up your sleeve, so we just waited to take a peek at your cards," Irma said.

"Though it's actually a book," Hay Lin pointed out.

"Still two steps behind, eh Phobos?" Will asked.

The Prince looked thunderous, giving no answer, save for a ball of fire loosed at Will and Hay Lin.

The melee was on, the Prince lashing out with his power while the Guardians countered and protected the library as best they could. A burst of crackling magic gave Phobos a reprieve, facing only the Water Guardian.

"I was hoping I could rewrite the fate of others to simply erase you five. But oblivion may be too generous a use of the book's power," Phobos hissed.

"What book?" Irma quipped, tilting her head. Phobos blinked, before reaching for the pouch he had stashed the book in… and finding nothing. Whirling, he saw the Keeper sneaking away behind him, holding the book.

"Thanks Irma," Will ground out. Phobos nearly roared with fury, raising both his hands to lash out at her with as much power as he could muster.

"Quintessence!" Will called, raising her own power to protect her. Her eyes widened as Phobos' attack broke through the counterattack. She barely heard her friends cry out, instinctively thrusting the large book in front of her as a shield.

She had not seen her own magic playing across the book, and now Phobos' attack struck it head on. The blazing white filled Will's vision, the book outlined darkly in her sight as strange symbols blazed to life on it.

As sound seemed to fade, she heard a lock turn over, and darkness burst out from the book, swallowing the burning light.

"Well, what have we here? I think I may know just what to do with you two," someone whispered from far away.

'Who…?' Will wondered, before fading into the screaming silence.

Meridian:

Kelvon gave a contented sigh as he lay back on the soft grass above the riverbank. The sky was beautiful, with only the occasional fluffy cloud, and the heat of summer had only begun to fade towards winter. The result was the sort of comfortable daytime weather that in his experience was only found in early autumn, late spring, or goddess-sent days of the summer.

He was a middle-aged man with greenish-gray skin, small ridges of hardened skin framing his face along with a dark beard starting to sprinkle with gray. Still tall, he had clearly been an impressive man once, but whatever discipline had once dominated his life had faded, leaving a small paunch on his torso even as his arms remained thick and hard. His clothes were loose pants and an open vest of faded blue, both well worn.

Yawning, he scratched at his cheek with his right hand, the left missing and replaced with a blunt steel hook secured to his forearm by leather straps.

"Too good a day to look for more work," he told himself, reaching out to grab a squat bottle of red liquid nearby. Lifting his head, he expertly took a pull from the bottle without spilling a drop. He grimaced slightly before re-corking the bottle and putting it aside again.

"And that would be why he threw it in for free. But free spirits are free spirits," he mused. The retired soldier glanced to the crumb-covered piece of cloth his lunch had been wrapped in. Alas, nothing left to wash the sour taste from his mouth.

Pulling himself back up reluctantly, Kelvon made his way over to the short clay embankment that separated the riverbank from the grasses. Descending with ease he knelt down on the rock-strewn bank, cupping his good hand to draw water.

Taking his drink, he noted something red pass him.

The thought reached his relaxed mind a moment later, causing him to spill the water and look at what was drifting downstream.

Rather someone, someone small.

"Blood and ruin!" Kelvon cursed. Running into the swift-flowing water he kicked up foam, wondering why good days could never be his to enjoy.

XXX

Loud knocking was hardly noteworthy to the old doctor. As the only reliable healer residing in the village, it was his lot in life to be interrupted when a crisis arose. So it was with sureness and swiftness he returned the dried herbs he had been inspecting to their drawer and grabbed his cane as he rose from the stool.

Making his way out of the supply room into his common room, the knock came again. The old man noted two things with interest. His name wasn't being called, and the arrival had not burst in, so it was likely the problem was not too urgent. And as something of a connoisseur of knocks, he thought someone was knocking with an elbow or something rather than their hand.

"Interesting," he muttered as he turned the doorknob and pulled it open.

"Alric!" Kelvon shouted as the door opened, rushing inside. The doctor frowned as the one-handed man rushed past him into the house. The younger man was soaking wet, and getting mud on the clean floorboards.

"I tell you again! It's Doctor Alricvandelus! And if you are running and shouting like that you can't be that bad off," the old man barked. The crippled soldier turned on the spot, a reminder he still had a warrior's reflexes, and scowled back at the doctor.

"I'm fine, ya old lurden! She's the one that needs help!" Kelvron shouted, pointing at the blue bundle under his arm with his hook.

The doctor squinted at the bundle in puzzlement, and then recognized the mop of red hair for what it was as the bundle squirmed.

"Put her on the table, and tell me everything," the doctor ordered, rapping his cane on the floor. The soldier almost snapped to attention at the tone. He carried the child to the doctor's work area, a long table with a sheet of clean linen draped over it, with a counter close at hand with the doctor's bag resting amidst tools of the trade.

The one-handed man retreated, making room for the doctor after setting his burden down. The doctor stepped up and began pulling back the cloth covering the patient, first revealing her face. A girl, pale, with bruising to her left cheek and brow. Choker necklace with a dull pink rock cut into a sphere. Completely unwrapping her, he sucked in a breath.

She was naked, revealing more bruises and a numbers of shallow, rough, cuts.

"Explain," Alric demanded.

"I was having my lunch by the riverbank, near Torvock's meadow. I saw her drifting down the river and pulled her clear. She was like that when I found her," Kelvon explained hurriedly as the doctor examined the small child.

The doctor faced the girl's rescuer, fully noticing the wet man was half naked. A glance to the soaking wet cloth answered that question and brought a small smile to the old man's face.

"How is she?" Kelvon asked as the doctor opened a cabinet on his counter and began to dry the girl off.

"Well, she's breathing fine, so that is the greatest worry with a river victim settled. The bruises and cuts are worse than they look. She may have picked those up in the river. There's a bump on her head under her hair," Alric reported. Satisfied she was dry, he covered her up to her chin in a dry piece of linen.

"Robbery, most likely. The bandits in the woods have been getting desperate; they might have stripped her down and given her to the river to cover their tracks," Alric mused.

"How far could she have drifted?" the old soldier demanded, realizing the implications.

"You saw her hands? She might have been in the water a good while. Tell the village head, word needs to go around if the bandits are moving to the forest's edge," the doctor ordered. The younger man moved to obey, before stopping to pick up his vest. He watched as the doctor inspected the bump under the red hair gingerly.

"She will be alright?" Kelvon inquired.

"Hopefully, these deep sleeps can be tricky. In the mean time, I will make a poultice for the injuries and bandage her up. Now get," the doctor snapped.

The old man didn't watch even as he heard the door close with a thud. Pushing back an eyelid, he was pleased that the eye below looked as it should. But still…

He gently drew out one of the tiny hands. Webbed fingers, one joint short of the tips, and webbed toes. Unusual; he had not encountered people with such features. Was the girl one of those unique individuals that sometimes came about of nations mixing?

Turning his attention to the stone necklace, he thoughtfully tapped the stone. A weak groan answered him, with the girl shifting.

"Well, you may have an interesting tale when you wake up, little one. Though I fear it may be tragic," Alric sighed, turning away from his patient to open his bag and find what he needed.

XXX

Will had always been a heavy sleeper, and when she awoke on her own it tended to be a drawn out return to the land of the living. This time was no exception; her eyes opened, blinking against a light and she rolled over in protest. The tightly wrapped sheets were a surprise.

"Did I get wrapped in my sheets again?" she yawned. That was when she noticed where she was, namely not her room.

It was a cabin, er, wood house? Cabin didn't seem to fit. Whatever it was, it was big. Whoever lived here had to be enormous.

"What?" Will questioned, before coughing. Her voice sounded off too, and putting a hand to her head, she felt a bandage wrapped against her head.

The thought of injuries brought her tired mind back to full steam.

Phobos!

The last thing she remembered, she and her friends had followed Phobos into the royal library on Meridian. This place certainly had a Meridian feel to it.

And now she saw a nearby counter where a roll of bandages and some medical instruments that looked old fashioned lay out in a tray.

'A doctor? But that makes no sense. They would have taken me to get healed or back to Earth. Unless…' Will thought, bolting up in the bed only to fall back down.

'Did Phobos kidnap me?!' she shouted in her head. She didn't remember fighting him; had he lured them all into a trap? She knew it was a bad idea to play around with him, they should have just thrown the white-haired loony back into his cage as soon as possible!

But this place… wouldn't Phobos throw her in a dungeon, or at least tie her up? Her head throbbing, Will pressed a hand to her forehead. That was when she realized why her hands felt a bit funny.

Will had seen a lot, and done a lot. But she was still a relatively young person, who was lost, hurt, and confused. Therefore, she did the only reasonable thing in the face of her own two webbed hands.

She shrieked in an embarrassingly high pitch and passed back out on the bed.

XXX

**"What are you doing? You have taken a memory from her, that almost breaks the rules."**

_**"But not quite!"**_

**…**

_**"Oh, don't be like that, I wanted you to see this. I'm not being sneaky."**_

**"I do not appreciate you honoring the letter of the agreement and not the spirit."**

_**"Oh, but I am. I merely wish for a new accord this time, a reasonable quid pro quo, I think you will find."**_

**"What do you want?"**

_**"In exchange for withholding that memory from her, for a time, I want to cross paths with her once."**_

**"The rules are clear – you can set these evens in motion, but not interfere after the initial stage. It is their free will that will determine the outcome."**

_**"I won't be using magic, at least no more than needed to make contact. I will answer some questions for her, nothing more. And I will give her back the memory I took then."**_

**"Will you answer truthfully? And 'some' implies only more than one."**

_**"My answers will be helpful, if not appreciated. The number depends on how good she is at asking questions."**_

**"Why should I not just put the memory back?"**

_**"The same reason God put the forbidden fruit where mortals could reach it. True virtue can't exist without the opportunity for sin. Or perhaps I should say trust is only real when there is the possibility of betrayal.**_

_**"You want to give me slack on my leash to see what I will do with it. Have I gotten better, worse, or am I the same as I was when you first spared me?"**_

**"We have an accord, but remember, the 'leash' is in my hand."**

_**"Of course. This will be most interesting; she had best not disappoint us.**_

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**Author's Note:**

_Yet another new project. Honestly I am glad the plot bunny's are getting out of my head. Even with school writing remains my beloved pastime, so I have decided it is better to begin than risk nothing of the stories getting told. And in the events of blocks more choices to take around it when one story is blocked._

_I loved the concept in BoFM, and decided to create along similar lines. Thanks to Chaotic9, Zim and Trackula for their support in these Yuletide endeavors of mine. _

_Merry Christmas to all, with long days and pleasant nights._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: _I do not own WITCH._

_Betaed by:_ Zim'sMostLoyalServant, Tracukla, and Chaotic9

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**Chapter Two**

Doctor Alricvandelus, Alric to almost everyone else, considered himself a man of great learning and experience. His mostly bald head and the grey, fading to white, hair he had left were a testament, along with the wrinkles on his never handsome face, he attributed to dealing with difficult people and situations for much of his life.

So the current situation, while annoying, was also a rare amusement to him in its lack of precedence.

"Come out," he commanded, stamping his cane down on the floor.

He stood before the patient bed. He supposed it would better be called a guest bed, but most of his overnight guests were patients, so he thought this label more accurate. The problem was that the patient was not in the bed, but under it.

He had come back from the baker's to find the girl had woken up at some point and gotten out of bed. It was fortunate he had not missed her hiding place and wasted time looking elsewhere; it sounded like she had banged her head under there.

Which was hardly amusing, as she already had a head injury.

"Not talking?" he asked, not expecting an answer. His expectations were met.

With a frustrated sigh, he shifted weight to his cane and knelt. He wasn't so frail yet, but he knew the signs of old age creeping up a bit more with each passing year. But a doctor's duty always outweighed personal discomfort.

Kneeling on the floor he could see her, watching him now watching her. Her brown eyes watched him intently, and she was clutching her stone necklace. A younger him would have grabbed her and hauled her out to examine for any aggravation to her condition. But he was older and wiser to a patient's needs beyond what came out of bags.

'She is suspicious, but only a little afraid. Isn't that interesting?' he thought, meeting those eyes.

"Well, you took a nasty spill into the river. I imagine you are wondering where you are and who I am?

"Well, this is the town of Velkor-by-the-River, a logging and farming village in the Crown Province. One of the local rascals found you drifting down the river and brought you to me. I am Alricvandelus Sel, the only doctor in this town – or the next six towns, for that matter.

"I would like to know what happened to you and where you are from. But let's start with something simple, a name," the old doctor inquired.

The girl kept watching him, making no move to answer him. With a grunt, the doctor pulled himself up.

"Have it your way. But I will need to change your bandages or they might turn foul. My consideration doesn't extend to patients harming themselves with stupidity. So if you're not out by then, I'll give some young man a copper to fish you out," he told her as he walked back towards his workspace.

XXX

Will watched the old, well-dressed Meridianite walk out of sight. She did not like the sound of that threat, especially as she was pretty sure she couldn't do anything about it.

Waking back up, she had managed to get over the fact her fingers were connected by webbing that came one joint shy of her fingertips, and her toes were webbed up even more! She didn't even have toenails! She had realized that her body troubles didn't end there.

Namely, getting out of the bed, she realized something very bad. She was a brat again.

She was the least developed of her friends, but she had enough to interest at least one guy! But now… Without a mirror she had been able to dodge the idea, but it was pretty clear. She was something like five years old in her body, which put her whole "giant's house" theory to rest.

She had been planning to escape, only to face plant. Her legs didn't measure up to her mind. Even standing still was a challenge with her center of gravity, even if it was lower, off.

So she had not made it far when she heard a door open, and went with her last resort, hiding under the bed.

The old man's words did nothing for her state of mind. None of this made sense. Slowing aging was one thing, but she had only ever heard of Nerissa getting younger, and that had been the woman healing the magical damage to her body.

And then there was… everything!

And what was wrong with the Heart? While relieved to still have it, the mystic jewel looked like a rock and wasn't responding to her.

There was only one reasonable explanation – Phobos.

This was too much strangeness to be believed, like a dream. And the last thing she remembered was trailing the wizard Prince into the Castle.

"This is some trap he's caught me in. Probably to trick me into giving up the Heart. Maybe the girls are also trapped in this?" she muttered.

Yan Lin had told her what had happened to Nerissa. The traitor was not just trapped in the jewel, but a dream reality that catered to her twisted little desires. Nerissa did not even realize she had been defeated, trapped by an illusion of total victory.

'So is this what Phobos was planning, trap me in a dream world so I would give up the Heart to him without realizing it? How else could he hope to challenge the Heart of Meridian now unless he stole another Heart?

'But I know it's not real? Did he get it wrong?

'Wait, the bastard is probably watching this. If he realizes I know, he may fix the spell or something.'

The Keeper of the Heart did not like that line of thought, but it was the only sensible explanation. Why else make her helpless and put her right in what seemed like a responsible person's care? To make her let her guard down.

But if this was like Nerissa's prison, she was stuck. Nerissa would never be able to get free, unless someone set her free from the outside.

'So, it's waiting for the cavalry? Well, that sucks, but if those are the only options…' Will thought dully. Her stomach growled, as if she didn't have enough problems.

'Hmm, may as well play along so Princey takes longer stepping up his game,' Will decided. She crawled out from under the bed to sit on the floor, watching the old man facing away from her at his desk.

XXX

Alric watched the girl across from him at the table.

He had neither the space nor inclination for a proper dining room. His mother had served her meals in the kitchen she made them in, and that was a fine standard to follow, in his opinion. Granted, it was rough fare he had on his plate, and hers. He was enough of a cook to mind himself, which meant along with payment in food from a number of patients he got a decent meal regularly.

The girl was tiny, and clumsy. She could trip on a flat floor, and had done so, repeatedly, before he picked her up by the lent dress' neck and put her in that chair. Closing his eyes, he muttered his usual thanks to the powers that be. He had gone without food too many times to begrudge a gesture of thanks for a full plate.

The girl was devouring the slice of bread when he opened his eyes. The frantic eating was a good sign; a healing body needed an appetite.

"Well then," he said. The girl stopped her chewing to watch him. The stuffed cheeks reminded him of a frog. And wasn't that interesting, with those hands of hers? She swallowed and lowered herself so her eyes peeked over the plate at him.

"Well what?" she asked.

"Ha, direct are we? Well good, that's my style too.

"Seeing as I have fed you, I think you owe me something," he told her, skewering a pickled vegetable with his knife. The girl looked at him, then her plate, and shoved it aside. At least, as far as she could reach without leaving her perch.

"Ha! Unless you feel like returning that bread you ate that doesn't work. Besides, as your doctor I prescribe a full meal," he chuckled. The girl glared at him as he cut up and ate the pickled vegetables on his plate. He was pleased with the quality of the brine; it would make the dried food bearable.

"Van," she said. He looked up from his plate, the girl, Van, was looking at him as if daring him to argue.

"Van, interesting name, but you seem a strange enough child for it," he commented.

"I'm not strange," she grumbled under her breath. He heard her quite clearly, but just watched as she tried and failed to cut some dried venison, and finally resorted to grabbing it and tearing it with her teeth.

XXX

"And she has said nothing about what happened?" the Headwoman repeated. The gray-haired, solidly built woman sat at the kitchen table with Alric. She was a woman who was moving from middle-aged into old. Her beauty was well gone, Alric noted, but she was shaping up into the strong kind of old woman, the kind who may think wistfully of time's theft, but didn't let it rule them or break them. She fiddled with the silver disk that symbolized her rank as she watched Van scrub the floor in the main room through the open doorway.

"Not a word. I'm not even sure Van is her real name," Alric answered.

"I've never seen a person quite like her. A runaway?" she asked.

"Possible, maybe even likely. Not much we can do with no idea where she came from. And if nearly drowning didn't make her long for home, it may not be a place we should take her back to," the doctor said.

"So the orphanage at Red Bridge?" the Headwoman asked.

"No, that place is overcrowded since the Flux came through. And even if it wasn't, it's only good in that it's better than the hedges or streets," Alric retorted.

"Well, yes, but it's not like anyone here will take a stranger's child in. The taxes for the Queen and the poor harvest have us all tightening our belts," she reminded him.

"I'm not sending a little girl from my house into that workhouse," he told her.

"You don't mean… Doctor, with all due respect, you're a man without a wife," the woman said to him.

"I think one child is well within my means. I will take her on as an apprentice doctor, there is no need to worry about the adoption laws, Marka," he told her.

"An apprentice? She's too young," Headwoman Marka sighed, looking tired already.

"Actually, the Doctor's Guild doesn't have a minimum age for apprentices, and as a ranked master I can take an apprentice without consulting the Guild Master. Back in the city, it wasn't unheard of for doctors to take young orphans as apprentices," Alric told her.

Granted, those doctors had treated those apprentices more like indentures than proper apprentices, but withholding a little truth wouldn't hurt her.

"People will still talk, and Sister Hilda will not like it. She already talks enough about how it's a perversion for men to defile the healing arts. And now you take a child, a girl, under your roof," Marka reminded him.

"Heh, she whips the locals up quick enough to denounce me. But as soon as a leg is broken and that so-called healer is busy having dinner with the mayor of Red Bridge, they come knocking. If the girl doesn't want it, she can go to the orphanage, but hers is the only opinion that matters in this to me," Alric smirked. Shaking her head, the village leader raised her cup, only to realize it was empty. Alric did not offer to refill it.

"Then why? You may not care about causing trouble, but you don't go around kicking it up for nothing," she demanded wearily.

"Not now, but when I was young…" he recalled wistfully, leaving possibilities hanging. She tried to convey how very unamused she was with a glare. He responded by laying his cane on top of the table.

"I'm not getting any younger. When I first came here I traveled between the villages regularly, now I stay here unless someone calls me away. And I'm not going to be getting better.

"In ten years or so, the Sister in Red Bridge may be the only healer of any kind for days of travel. And you know she hates leaving the comfort of Red Bridge for long.

"I have written the hospital in Crown City asking for someone to study under me three times. But no one wants to be a country doctor, and no one in the guild favors me enough to order a student out here for my sake. And most of you people still feel half-guilty about being healed by a man, my craft is not for that sort!" he spat, scowling at his guest.

She leaned back in her chair and he seemed to realize his own tone, coughing into his hand.

"Despite what the Sister says, I do believe in the Shaper. My quarrels are with those who claim to speak for the divine, yet every time look after their own, material, interests. And I see some greater hands at work with this girl. She seems to have no one, or no one she would return to. And she had no distrust in her eyes for my profession.

"I needed an heir, and Kelvron carries a girl who could be it right through my door. I don't believe in second guessing – if this is an opportunity, I will grab for it," he said with a note of finality.

"You have been a blessing on our people, that's a fact, as you like to say," the Headwoman sighed, getting up. Without further words exchanged, she walked past the doctor and out of the kitchen. She paused in the main room, smiling as she glanced to where Van was pressed against the wall beside the doorway. The girl gave her a too-wide-to-be-real smile.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," the village leader scolded casually. The girl huffed, crossing her arms. Marka thought she said something about glass houses, but that made no sense.

"Back to work; you may be eating off that floor, so you'd best get it clean," Doctor Alric barked as she closed the door behind her.

XXX

The next morning, Will was picking straw out of her hair as she waited for whatever passed for breakfast this time to be laid out. Apparently Phobos had decided to kick things up a notch. The "doctor" had declared her too healthy for his patient bed and sent her to the loft with a blanket and pillow.

It reminded her of the frontier houses she had to study in school. It was basically an attic for half the house, facing the open space/high ceiling of the main room. By her standards it hardly had enough junk to qualify as an attic, though it may have been the ladder thwarting her elderly host in getting up there. The climb up the ladder had hardly been pleasant, especially after she looked down.

Being able to grow wings and fly may cure any fear of heights, but when you lose that trick, apparently vertigo comes back with a mighty vengeance. What kept her climbing had been the doctor below suggesting she could sleep on the floor.

The attic was colder than the bed, it was dark with spider webs, and the straw spread all over it was musty. And above all else – straw.

"You suck," Will declared, groggily, as a plate of something dubious but edible was put in front of her. She wasn't certain if she was addressing the illusion or the jerk behind it. As it was, he plucked a piece of straw from her hair (another one?!) and sniffed it as he took his seat opposite her.

"Hmm, I forgot the straw was due for changing. I'll nab Kelvron's boy for that today," he muttered. That surprised Will a bit. She had thought maybe leading the frontier life from Hell was Phobos' plan for a bit.

Was he trying to make her trust the illusions so as to give up the Heart? It seemed more Nerissa's style, but Phobos could be quite the trickster when he bothered. Though, since she could trick that trickster, that qualified her for the title too.

"Stop that," Alric snapped. Will looked up from the food she was pushing around with her knife (apparently forks were not in Phobos' plan).

"What?" she asked.

"That giggling, it's creepy. And that smirk, while you're at it," Alric told her, gesturing with a gray bit of something on his knife.

"I wasn't giggling!" Will objected. Though her face reddened; when she had really been a kid, she had trouble with stuff like that.

'Oh Phobos, you had better not have given back the problems I remember outgrowing!'

Before the doctor could answer, they heard the door burst open.

"Doctor! Doctor!" a young man screamed.

"In here," Alric answered, setting his plate aside and getting to his feet. A young man with dark green skin and a short shock of white hair ran into the kitchen, panting.

"Zaben! His arm…" the young man managed.

"You woodcutters, you practically fill my pantry, chopping flesh instead of wood. I'll get my bag, catch your breath and tell me about it as we go," Alric said briskly, walking past the young man into the main room.

"Mind your chores while I'm gone, Van. And I expect an answer on the apprentice matter by dinner," Alric said as Will carefully walked after him.

Will wrinkled her nose at still more scrubbing and cleaning mixed with tripping and under-reaching.

"Can I come?" she asked. Maybe if she got away from this house the illusion would weaken?

"Kid, this isn't-" the young man said.

"Fine, but when you lose your breakfast, don't whine to me," Alric interrupted, closing his bag after inspecting the contents.

Alric was surprisingly the first out the door, with Will and the woodcutter following him. And Will tripping on the doorstep to fall forward onto hard packed dirt.

"At this rate, I'll have two patients. You, carry her and tell me about the injury. Doing two things at once might make you the smartest woodcutter to ever live," Alric huffed.

Will crossed her arms, sitting up on the ground trying to think of a good insult to throw back at him. Instead, she squeaked when the burly young man picked her up in his arms and started running down the lane. Will was so shocked at the odd sensation of being carried like a little kid she hardly noticed the buildings.

"Fool, are you trying to leave me in the dust?! I don't even know what grove you idiots were supposed to be cutting down instead of Zaben!" Alric shouted, shambling after them, waving his cane.

XXX

The three reached the grove in short order. The forest edge was close to the village, at least one farmer's field practically running up to the old stumps that marked the woodcutters' work in seasons past. Finding the injured man was easily enough, he was screaming at irregular times and nearly a dozen men were clustered around him.

Will paid the men only a little attention, taking in the forest. The detail was amazing; it even smelled like a forest. She had always thought Meridian was beautiful without the Veil, but aside from the palace and capital it seemed she only ever came when there was a battle to be fought or something.

'Surprised Phobos knows enough about forests to make such a good fake one,' Will thought.

"I've brought Alric!" the man carrying her shouted. She did not appreciate him practically yelling into her ear.

"Hey!" she yelled at him. He practically dropped her, running to the press of men. Will landed on her rump, the blue dress she was wearing offering no padding to speak of.

"Zaben is his best friend," the doctor said as he walked past her spot on the moss.

"Back off! I may need two of you to hold him, the rest are just getting in the way," Alric snapped. The men listened to him, the runner and an older cutter standing by, while the others retreated.

No one noticed Will creeping up to watch up close.

Alric saw they had pulled off someone's tunic and tied it around the cut; they had even had the good sense to use a belt to tighten it like a cheap tourniquet. That wouldn't have occurred to them before he came along. But now it was an obstacle, he thought, as he knelt by the restrained man and set his bag aside, opening it up.

"I'm here Zaben, now let's get you fixed up," the Doctor said. His voice was never calmer or more soothing than when treating someone with a serious injury. It was purely practical; anything that might calm them and slow the blood loss a little could make difference. He undid the hasty binding with the ease of decades of practice.

Tossing the blood soaked garment aside, he withdrew a bottle of clear liquor, wetting a clean cloth with it and began cleaning the wound even as the blood continued to seep. Zaben cried out at the burning touch, but it helped clean the wound of foulness and let Alric better see what he was dealing with.

"Wow," he heard Van say. He glanced to his side where he had heard her. It had only been a small reflex but his face turned fully at what he saw. She was examining the blood soaked binding, pulling her tiny hands away looking at the blood on them as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

She sniffed the blood on her hands, and rubbed a bit of it between her thumb and forefinger.

"Stop that!" one of the cutters barked, sounding quite shocked. Alric wasn't quite sure what to make of it either, but it snapped him back to task.

Fortunately, as he set about the messy work of determining the damage, he had no time to think on it. Your patient deserves your undivided attention, a solid credo for any doctor, or healer. Zaben was lucky, his bone had stopped the axe without breaking, there might be a crack, but that should heal with rest the healing for his muscle would require. Finally sewing Zaben up, Alric rubbed his eyes for a moment and glanced around. Only to find Van kneeling next to him, looking at the sewn up wound with a grin on her face.

"Well that was awesome, the detail!" Van exclaimed. Alric stared at the girl who had rubbed her hands clean on her dress, wondering if this supported his plans, or should discredit them. He had his answers at the murmuring of the cutters.

Few children got adopted; a child that would be rumored as strange or crazy would only leave when she got too old and sent off with a work order for the lowest bidder.

Zaben had passed out at some point, he only moaned when Alric spread a foul smelling yellow paste over the wound and began to bind it with white cloth strips.

"Get a wagon to take him back. Not his hut either, send him to his mother's. That arm will need rest in a sling; he won't adjust quickly to having one good arm. And have him drink this with tea when he wakes up," he said to the young cutter who had fetched him.

"Bloodwort – it will make the tea taste foul, but it will help him regain his strength after losing so much blood. I will come by to examine him after dinner," Alric answered the question in the young man's eyes as he handed over an envelope.

"Doctor? I'm hungry, I didn't get to finish breakfast," Van piped up behind him. Alric decided he would take the time to stand up before answering her.

'Well, if she becomes a doctor, at least she won't have one of the biggest hurdles to worry about,' Alric decided.

XXX

"Seriously?!" Van piped. Doctor Alric looked at her skeptically; the girl who had glumly finished her breakfast was now beaming at him so brightly he almost felt a need to avert his eyes. She had a new light green dress, with no sleeves, and a dark red kerchief she had tied around her arm that matched her hair. She had asked about wearing trousers; he had given that all the consideration it deserved.

"Yes, you get the day off. A proper apprentice would only get one off a month, but certain people, who will remain unnamed, feel it is unfair to keep a child tied up in chores and lessons," Alric rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he really minded, but he had an image to maintain.

His apprentice was proving more work than he had reckoned.

"Sure, why not?" were the words she had used to accept his proposal when pressed. It had seemed a bit too easy; she learned what the catch was when she signed the contract.

If you could call those three strange letters a signature. She hadn't been able to read a single word of the contract.

She wasn't illiterate, it seemed, but her tribe apparently maintained their own written language, which baffled him. Still, he needed her to be able to read the books, and a doctor needed to be able to read reports and keep records.

Since he wasn't about to spend the time or money to send her to the school at Red Bridge, he had started teaching her the Royal Standard Alphabet. She was a quick study, at least.

But teaching a little girl was draining, just like making sure she actually did her chores. So let her be someone else's problem for a spell.

"Be back before sunset, and here's a copper for something day-old from the baker," Alric said, flipping Van a coin. She hopped up and forward to get it. He sucked in a breath, expecting a tumble, but she landed securely on her feet.

"Watch out, a girl might get used to getting showered with wealth like this. Later!" Van said, flipping a webbed hand to him before turning to run towards the door. She tripped over her own feet and fell down before she was halfway.

"While you have your liberty for the day, apprentices are so much better at doing their lessons when not suffering head trauma. So you get a chaperone," Alric said as he walked by the girl, who was grumbling into the floor.

As Van pushed her herself back up her, master opened the door.

"Hey Doc!" the boy greeted. His skin was a dark green, almost black, with two gray ridges each above his eyes in place of eyebrows. His hair was a plain brown mess that looked like he cut it by grabbing clumps and hacking it with a knife. He was nearly a third taller than Will as she stood up.

"Van, this is Panleus, Kelvron's nephew. The rascal feels enough responsibility to be concerned that you get some fun, but not so much that he would see to you himself," Alric said, ignoring the greeting.

"So am I getting paid?" Panleus asked, looking a bit sly.

"As neither you nor your uncle have ever paid me back for losing that fine grade twine, no," Alric said.

"Ah come on, she's so small!" Panleus whined.

"I am not small!" Will shouted, stamping her foot. She had forgotten she was barefoot, shoes here being horribly uncomfortable, and winced.

"Yes you are, now both of you, get out of here," the old doctor snapped. Panleus reacted to the tone, and before Will knew it her hand was grabbed and she was dragged out the door.

"Finally, I can't believe I get some freedom from that slave driver!" Will cheered, walking slowly along the road into the village proper. It turned out Alric lived at the edge of the town. Well, village, she supposed, it wasn't very big.

"So what would you like to see first? How about the market, it's Market Day. Though the market down in Red Bridge is much better, they sometimes have performers there," Panleus asked, keeping pace with the smaller child.

"I don't need a babysitter, I can find my own way," Will waved him off, looking around. Meridian was a beautiful place, when it wasn't under Phobos' rule. Although, she thought wrinkling her nose, the aroma could use some work.

"You're too small to wander around alone," Panleus laughed, putting his hands behind his head.

"Am not!" Will shot back.

"Are too," the boy answered.

"Am-oof!" Will shouted, before tripping and falling into the dusty lane.

"And too clumsy. Besides, I promised to show you around, and I keep my promises," Panleus told her. Will grumbled, not bothering to push herself up. Curse her tiny body; she would have to do something to get Phobos back for this. Perhaps dye his stupidly long hair pink?

Her companion apparently decided her intimacy with the street had gone on long enough, and pulled her back to her feet from the back of her dress.

"Uh thanks," Will said. He wasn't that much bigger than her – either she was a real lightweight, or he was strong. Unfortunately, he must have caught something of that thought from her expression, because he grinned and puffed out his chest.

"I'm the strongest kid my age in the village," he proclaimed, pointing his thumb at his chest. Will looked at the kid, swelling ridiculously with pride, and her mouth quirked.

She couldn't help bursting out into laughter. Panleus deflated, watching as the small girl rolled onto her back, laughing her head off. By the time she got a hold of herself, lying on her back gasping for breath, he was frowning as hard as he could with his arms crossed.

'I needed that, thanks for missing a step Phobos,' Will thought. Lifting her head to look at her chaperone, she snickered at his would-be murderous look.

"Cut it out, I am the strongest," he told her gruffly.

"Sure, sorry. Look, I really don't care where I go so long as it's not the doc's place, so why don't you pick, Pan," Will told him, sitting up.

That seemed to lighten his mood as he smiled at her.

"Alright, I was going to save the best for last, but now we'll do it first," he told her solemnly. Ah, the logic of kids, Will thought fondly. He started to run off, which made Will frown a bit as she got to her feet. Running was an invitation to falling at the moment for her.

"And by the way, don't call me Pan!" he called back as he ducked between two cottages.

'Oh? I smell revenge!' Will thought gleefully, as she followed after him as quickly as she dared, minding each step.

Shortly:

Panleus had come back after he realized she wasn't behind him, and Will had, much to her delight, avoided kissing the dirt again. She might finally be getting the hang of steering her fun-sized fake world self.

Still, that didn't make her any less puzzled by Panleus' first choice for fun and excitement.

It was a stone, one-storey building with narrow windows, a red thatched roof, and single doorway with a signpost hanging over it. The sign depicted a very familiar kind of axe. And next to the door stood a blue-skinned man with a very familiar uniform, a Meridian Guardsman.

"This is the guard station," Panleus told her as they peeked around an alley wall. Will found herself wanting more of an explanation for why she was sharing an alley with an overflowing trash bin.

"And?" Will pressed.

"This is where the guards are! Sure, there are only three here, and Marko is old, but they are warriors like my uncle. They fight in battles, track down criminals, and keep Meridian safe," he told her, voice vibrating with adoration. Someone had a case of hero worship.

"So Pan, why are we hiding instead of saying hi?" Will asked.

"Because that's Kynat there at the door. He thinks I distract the others from their stuff. Told me not to come back until I could give him a good spar.

"Well that's fine! My uncle was a better guard than him before he lost his arm, and he's teaching me how to fight. One day I'll beat him and then I'll go to the capital and join the Guard!" he told her, face set with adorable determination.

"And don't call me Pan," he said, tearing his starry eyes from the building.

"Hey you brats, move along!" Kynat barked, spotting them.

'Well, if I'm supposed to be a kid,' Will thought mischievously.

Puffing out her cheeks, she stuck out her tongue at him.

The guard's eyes widened, and then narrowed. He propped his axe against the wall.

"Uh oh!" Pan moaned, before snatching Will up and running down the alley.

"Insulting a guard about his duty!" the guard called as he chased after them.

XXX

"What a jerk!" Will griped, sitting on the grass, scowling. Pan was bracing himself against a thin tree, catching his breath.

"So much for seeing the village," Will remarked, looking around at the farmer's field next to them as they sat between the wheat and the dirt tract.

"I think we lost him," Panleus said.

"Yeah, but you nearly knocked that old lady down," Will reminded him. He glared at her slightly as he straightened up.

"Kynat hates kids. I hear he's out here instead of in the city because he messed up big. Maybe kids were involved?" Pan told her.

"You might have mentioned that earlier," Will remarked.

"Well, I seem to have caused you a bit of trouble, so how about you go your way, I go mine and we put his behind us?" Will asked.

"No, I said I would show you around, and I will," Pan said, smacking a fist into his palm. Will rolled her eyes.

"How are you supposed to do that with Sir Short Fuse looking for you?" Will asked.

"What? You're the one that set him off!" Pan objected.

"Yeah, but I'm also a cute, innocent little girl," Will said. She had gotten some good mileage from big eyes and sad lips with her dad, and while it seemed the doc was immune, this kid wasn't. Phobos was really committed to this dream thing.

"You're evil," Panleus declared. Will just laughed at that, finally getting to her feet.

"Anyway I know a place he won't check that I wanted to show you. It's not as cool as the station though," Pan continued. Will sighed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face. Considering what topped his list, she was thinking an antique butter churn or something was up next.

XXX

Will watched intently, peering over the edge, crouching, her dream-child reflection staring back.

"This is better than a stupid guard place," Will said, turning her head to look at the boy. He grumbled at that but Will didn't care, she went back to looking at the pond.

It was like something from a movie, a rough circular shape with stands of cattails and an oddly colored willow tree opposite her. She was on a top of a bank that seemed steep, but considering her current stature it probably wasn't much.

There were Lilly pads too; she stared at the one closest to her, and before her eyes a little green frog broke from the water to land squarely on the pad.

"Awesome!" Will squeaked. She had an urge, and without thinking followed it.

"Careful…" Panleus began, as she got to her feet quickly. The last thing he needed was her falling in. Then her dress hit him in the face. He pulled it off in time to see a blur pass him and something loudly splash into the center of the pond.

"Oh crap!" Panleus shouted. The thought of that girl who couldn't take five steps without tripping trying to swim…

Then she broke surface, red hair plastered over her face, and spraying an impressive stream of water out of her mouth. Laughing happily, she peeled her hair off of her face and reached out and began to swim through the water with smooth strokes.

"Oh. I guess those weird hands are good for something," Panleus said, watching the girl take a deep breath before going under the algae-laced water. He glumly took a seat on the bank; he didn't have his fishing pole, and it didn't look like his charge would be going anywhere anytime soon.

For her part, Will blushed down to her neck when she realized she was skinny-dipping in front of a boy. A child, no less! But then again, he was no more real than this body, so no harm done, she decided. She wasn't going to let a bit of real/imaginary fun pass her by.

Later:

"Swimming?" Alric demanded calmly. Van stood on his doorstep as he occupied the doorway. She was still soaking wet in the twilight, hair plastered to her head and her dress hugging her wet body. She grinned at him, and it took a bit of an effort not to return it.

"Yeah, I couldn't get her to see anything else! She even ordered me to get her lunch," Panleus grumbled behind Van.

"It was tasty," Van remarked.

"I told you to keep an eye on her," Alric thumped his cane, punctuating his point.

"She wouldn't get out of the water!" the boy protested.

"And his stomach was growling," Van added, glancing around Alric, clearly wanting inside.

"I could have showed you the baker's, but no, you just wanted the stupid pond," Pan told her angrily.

"It was better than anything you could have shown me. Swimming is great, you can't trip in the water," Van shot back. Panleus gave her what was probably his best scowl; she didn't even look at him.

"She spat water in my face!" Panleus shouted, pointing at her. Now she turned to stick her tongue out at him. Alric decided to intervene before the boy lost it.

"Well, off with you then, your uncle probably needs minding. Van, get in here before you catch a chill," Alric told them. He stepped aside, letting the girl past him. He gave the boy a nod before closing the door.

A now familiar thump preceded him turning around. Van spat a curse word as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Shaking his head, Alric walked past her.

"Get those wet clothes off and leave them there. No sense getting anything more wet than needed. I will get a blanket and start a fire," he told the dripping girl. As he made his way to the linen closet, he had her toss the wet cloth aside and make her way toward the fireplace that dominated the common room wall.

She was quiet, and he wondered about this strange girl as he looked for a blanket that he wouldn't mind getting dirty from the mud on her feet and the pond scum in her hair and likely other places.

Her fondness of the water and apparent adeptness to it was most interesting. Perhaps her clumsiness was due to spending a great deal of her short life swimming rather than walking regularly. He pictured a life cycle where swimming came before walking when teaching the young.

He had assumed she had fallen into the river; had she fled into it on purpose?

And she was strange. There were moments he felt more like he was dealing with one of the girl youths of the village rather than a little girl. And some words she used made little or no sense.

There was a tale behind this girl, one she wasn't willing to tell, it seemed.

He found it made him even more determined to take her on. The monotony of this rural life he had ended up in could use some strangeness and mystery. Especially since that strangeness seemed to let her sidestep the hurdles that often daunted apprentice doctors. Even if it disturbed the villagers, that others' pain was trivial entertainment to her.

XXX

Will's next day of freedom came sooner than expected. She supposed the illusion wanted to distract her in ways routine wouldn't allow. As she left, spotting Panleus lurking at the roadside, she took casual note of the woman in fine green robes. The woman wore a silver broach crafted into a symbol Will did not recognize, but which seemed vaguely familiar.

As it was, the woman, who was an unflattering middle age, fixed her with a focused and disapproving look as they passed, so Will hastened on. Panleus stopped as they passed and said something to the sour-looking woman, to her annoyance.

"Didn't anyone teach you to be respectful of the Sisters?" Panleus admonished her when he joined her standing in the road.

"No. Now let's go to the pond," Will answered, grabbing his wrist. He easily resisted her tug, not budging a bit.

'Stupid fake-dream-body with no muscle mass,' she thought.

"I am not going to spend all day watching you swim, let's go to the market," Panleus retorted.

Will considered ditching him to go to the pond and enjoy the water. It's not like he was real, and it wouldn't mean anything. Just like with the sick or injured people Alric dealt with. Sure, it would be sad if it was real, but it was like being in a movie with great acting and effects. She couldn't help but be fascinated by Phobos' craftsmanship.

Sadly to the point she couldn't refuse the boy's pout being directed at her.

"Market it is, but they better have something sweet at the bakery for one copper!" Will declared, shaking a webbed fist at nothing in particular.

XXX

The doctor stood aside, letting the Sister in. He had to be courteous, even in private like this. So he let her in and let her seat herself at the table where he had already set out a bottle of good wine and two glasses.

"Welcome to my home. Though I am surprised you made the journey from Red Bridge, honored Sister," he told the laywoman. He poured a cup for her first, then served himself, before easing into his seat.

"Red Bridge is merely the center of my responsibility, these villages are also under my spiritual guidance, Doctor," she answered.

'I have heard and received spiritual guidance from many people. Sisters, normal women, and even men; it served me far better than any of the finger pointing and plate passing you push on these backwoods peasants and their landholders,' Alric thought behind his smile.

"That's right, of course, but it seems like age has limited your duties. Perhaps you should start sending your acolytes on the rounds. That Melara girl for instance?" he pointed out.

"It is not your place to tell the Sisterhood how to conduct our sacred mission. You muddy the waters enough, as it is," she sniffed, looking down her nose at him.

"Well, I should hope not. Cleanliness is vital to my trade after all."

"A man's place is in labor and war. A woman's place is with words, management of men, rule, and the mystical. You doctors infringe on the territory the Shaper designated for women with the gift of healing magic. Is it any wonder our fair princess has failed to birth a daughter when our kingdom's morals are left to rot?" the Sister bemoaned. Even without an audience she seemed to insist on the drama.

"There is no magic here. Doctors, male and female, work our trade by our hands. It is a labor, however skilled; there is no sin here. And the benefits to the people are many," Alric let some sternness into his voice.

"To cut open bodies and treat injury as if it was mere torn cloth. I hear report of your peers in their guildhalls cutting open beggar corpses or your own guildsmen who will their bodies to their peers. Desecrating the dead so you can understand what the Shaper saw fit to conceal beneath flesh.

"It is not only that you trespass in the healing arts, you defile them," she scowled thunderously.

"Sister, you know the people will agree with you only, only to do nothing. You hate to leave the comfort of your temple and fine friends in Red Bridge. And to whip up a mob only to have it disperse when the peasants realize I do more for them than you, would hurt your standing. Why, such an incident might even get you a reprimand from your superiors.

"So why are we here?" Doctor Alricvandelus demanded.

"Very well Alric, I shall be direct. We may be at an impasse, but you are pushing matters by adopting this… river stray. A man is not fit to raise a child, else they would be the ones blessed and burdened with the task of birth. A female child, even less so.

"It was good of you to see her healed and cared for, but it is time she was properly cared for. I have come to escort her to the Red Bridge Orphanage, she will be well taken care of by Mam Tulis," the Sister smiled sweetly.

"You are misinformed; I have not adopted young Van. She has signed on as my apprentice, which grants me rights over her until such a time as her contract is bought, canceled or fulfilled," he said with his own smile. He watched her expression slip as he pulled out the contract and showed it to her.

"Two copies, also signed, have already been turned over to the Headwoman for records and another sent to the Guild Hall in the Royal City for registration of one Van Rivers as my apprentice doctor.

"More wine, Honored Sister?" Alric asked.

XXX

Will stopped licking her fingers to scowl at Panleus.

"Oh quit pouting," she demanded. The boy sitting on her other side laughed.

There had been nothing beyond unsweetened rolls to be had for a copper, and her lack of enthusiasm had earned her a swift if polite push out the bakery door by the apprentice on duty. While Panleus had taken it in stride, she had her eyes on the sticky buns. And she was from a place where a girl could reasonably expect her sweet fix.

"Hey, I believe you wanted this?" someone said. Will had turned to find herself face-to-face with a scrawny, dirty boy in a red tunic. Holding a sticky bun in each hand. He looked fairly human, but his cheeks had markings like Aldarn's, only with a dark brown shade to go with his wild mop of hair instead of bone white.

Frowning, she took one of the buns and took a bite of the sweet treat.

"Thanks?" she said.

"Name's Tegus. I've never seen a webbed girl before," he greeted her. Will frowned at that, raising her free hand and flexing the fingers, displaying the pink webbing.

"Awesome," Tegus whistled.

"Thief!" the apprentice baker shouted somewhere nearby.

"Where?!" Panleus shouted, looking around in surprise.

"Time to fly," Tegus said, grabbing Will's wrist and dragging her off the market square and between two buildings.

"Hey!" Panleus said, whipping around and running after them.

And now here they were, finishing filched goodies and primly positioned for a swim. A better day than expected.

"He stole that, you shouldn't have eaten it," Pan admonished her.

"My mother is a Lady. It's not stealing if you call it tribute," Tegus cut in.

"You are not nobility," Panleus objected.

While the two boys argued, Will slipped down the embankment, pulling her dress off. The lack of underwear made this easier, at least. Though she still hated the lack of comfortable shoes. Slipping into the water, she watched the boys argue.

'I see what you did there, Phobos. First the adorkable boy shtick, now the slick rich rebel without a cause. Well fine, I'll take the little clique, but the Heart stays here. Until this dream ends," Will told herself. With that thought, she let herself sink under the water, taking solace in its gentle grip.

Tegus watched the pond from the bank, the argument forgotten.

"She sure can hold her breath a long time. I think with her walking troubles her tribe might be water folk," Panleus supplied. Tegus cast him an annoyed look.

"Forget that, she left her dress. Is she naked in there?" Tegus demanded.

Realizing the rich boy might have seen something, Panleus did the honorable thing – punch him, or rather try, to as the smaller boy rolled away. Like that, a game of chase was on around the pond, much to the amusement of a girl peeking out from under a Lily pad.

XXX

_**"Ah, as I hoped, she is committed to disbelief. Believing you are the only real thing in the whole world… I seem to recall a word for that, hmmm."**_

**"And yet, her actions do not deviate far from morality, despite such a belief."**

_**"True, but the game has barely begun. For now, let her grow in rural serenity, but soon the first two heralds of days to come will appear. And when the Prince returns to her sight…"**_

**"I do not dread these things. All will yet be well."**

_**"We shall see, won't we?"**_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

_YES, it is quite real._


End file.
